Hilary Scheinuk / The Times-PicayuneDefensive end Will Smith stretches before the start of training camp Friday, August 6, 2010.

It was an audacious display of talent by one of the most gifted musicians of his generation, a musician who just happens to have been arrested, charged -- but eventually acquitted -- on the accusation that he made a 14-year-old girl participate in his X-rated sexual fantasies. His acquittal did little to change the perception of him. There are people who revile him to this day, many of whom also take issue with anybody who admits to liking his music.

But by early Saturday morning, at least according to Lafayette police who say they witnessed the couple arguing, Smith, officially listed at 6 foot 3 and 282 pounds, had morphed into the antithesis of a hero. He had become, they say, a man who abuses his wife.

We shouldn't expect Smith to be any less athletically gifted when the Saints take the field against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday or when the Rams visit the Superdome that next week. But how will Saints fans receive him? With cheers? With catcalls? With indifference? Will his performance guide the reaction: The more sacks the quieter the outrage? Or will we categorically shun a man who helped the Saints win their first-ever Super Bowl?

Michael Vick helped operate an interstate dog-fighting ring and served time in federal prison because of it. In his game against the Washington Redskins this month, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was so phenomenal that the Pro Football Hall of Fame is saving his jersey. Nobody in NFL history had ever thrown for four touchdowns and run for two, while also racking up 300 yards in the air and 50 on the ground. There have been many stories since about Vick's redemption and at least a few stories quoting people who consider his crimes unforgivable.

Trumpeter Miles Davis laughed about abusing women. Jerry Lee Lewis married his young cousin. Filmmaker Roman Polanski raped a teenager. Woody Allen took up with his live-in girlfriend's stepchild and married her. Bill Clinton cheated on Hillary. Sen. David Vitter -- after his phone number was found in a call girl's records -- confessed to a "very serious sin." Lakers star Kobe Bryant was arrested -- but never tried -- for rape. Ben Roethlisberger, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, has twice been accused of sexually assaulting a woman, but he hasn't been charged in either case. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford hiked the Appalachian Trail. Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was a repeat customer of prostitutes. Athletes of every sport have been accused of battering their wives.

There are innumerable examples of popular people putting their fans in tough predicaments: forcing them to make distinctions between the person's talent and their character. I have tried to keep my dislike of R. Kelly at a high level. But every summer, it seems, he releases a hit that forces me to admit his talent. And the problem with admitting a person's talent is that it can feel indistinguishable from liking him.

Saints fans are likely to be torn over how to respond to the allegations involving Smith. Does cheering a ball-separating tackle signal a tolerance for domestic violence?

Not necessarily. But as long as this allegation hovers above Smith's head, responding to his presence on the field will take on a political significance that takes much of the fun out of the game.